Fansided

Projecting the Yankees’ 2020 rotation led by new ace Gerrit Cole

By Rucker Haringey

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 15: Gerrit Cole #45 of the Houston Astros celebrates retiring the side during the sixth inning against the New York Yankees in game three of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium on October 15, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 15: Gerrit Cole #45 of the Houston Astros celebrates retiring the side during the sixth inning against the New York Yankees in game three of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium on October 15, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 18: James Paxton #65 of the New York Yankees reacts after retiring the Houston Astros during the sixth inning in game five of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium on October 18, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 18: James Paxton #65 of the New York Yankees reacts after retiring the Houston Astros during the sixth inning in game five of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium on October 18, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

3. James Paxton

Big Maple pitched his best baseball down the stretch for the Yankees in 2019. Interestingly, he’s probably a little too erratic to be a legitimate ace, but when you line him up as the No. 3 guy in a rotation he looks overqualified. The Yankees will count on him to be a huge factor of their regular season and postseason success in 2020.

Like Severino, Paxton comes into the year with injury concerns. Unlike his teammate, he enjoyed a relatively healthy campaign in the Bronx last season. The organization will hope that he can give them 150+ innings this season. He almost certainly will miss a few starts, but avoiding any major injury will be important for Paxton in 2020.

When he’s healthy and on the mound, the key will be for him to use his fastball judiciously. His performance really picked up last season when he started to lean more on his curve ball. He has the arm talent to crank up a 95+ mph heater when necessary, but his best pitch is clearly the hook. Expect him to feature more off-speed stuff under Blake’s new, analytically driven, pitching philosophy.

Having a guy like Paxton in the middle of the rotation is a perfect example of how the Yankees can best use their financial might. He would easily be an ace for a lot of other teams, but New York can pay him big money and comfortably slot him in at the No. 3 spot in their own rotation.

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